GM Opens New Mountain View Technical Center In California
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GM hopes to attract new software engineers, electrical hardware engineers, and mechanical engineering specialists for its future ICE and EV offerings by opening a new technical center in Mountain View, California in an effort to get an advantage over its competitors.
The Mountain View Technical Center is 50,000-square-foot facility located in Silicon Valley, and already houses 200 GM employees previously working at Palo and Sunnyvale, The Mercury News reports.
The General intends the Mountain View Technical Center to be a focal point for software development and innovation. Its location right in Silicon Valley is intended to make it easier for talented designers there to apply for work without needing to relocate to Detroit or another distant locale.
The automaker’s software VP Baris Cetinok said “Detroit is the original Silicon Valley of the world” and went on to say “this is a very interesting time to bring innovation” to vehicles by “[reimagining] how infotainment looks and feels.” Chief communications officer Lin-Hua Wu added that “GM is really growing its presence its presence in Silicon Valley” and added that the new tech center offers “a chance to work at an iconic American company.”
The article notes that GM will launch six ICE and six all-electric vehicles during 2024 and the tech center will be working to ensure these models have the latest software and infotainment systems. Marissa West, president, GM North America, remarked that “we see a significant opportunity with the vehicles we are bringing to market this year,” which the Mountain View site will help realize.
Job listings for the new tech center on General Motors’ career website include staff and senior software engineering positions for cloud platforms and customer accounts, staff and senior electric hardware engineers, and several senior program manager jobs in related areas.
GM CEO Mary Barra attended the opening ceremony at the Mountain View Technical Center, highlighting its strategic importance. She said that the automotive “industry is so fierce, you have to have the very best talent,” according to an interview by The Detroit News.
She added that “if you haven’t been a software engineer and doing the type of software that is needed, you don’t have time to learn,” explaining that Silicon Valley has a “lot of software talent” and remarking “you have to tap into that.”
The software department of General Motors recently took a blow when its talented and successful Executive Vice President of Software and Services Mike Abbott was forced to step down in March by health issues. Speculatively, the new tech center in Silicon Valley could help the automaker succeed in its quest for a successor to Abbott.
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So they can develop more and more tech (we have too much already) that no one asked for and hardly anyone wants.
Name one business that actively stopped innovating and investing in R&D that was successful?
I’ll wait.
You know, there are used car lots where you can find low-tech cars?
I hope they attract some really good people and they can have a great time enjoying the environment and experience of being catered too. This really is the best example of the tail wagging the dog.
Thankful that it’s not a new Beijing Technical Center that is driving innovation.
GM is in desperate need of talented software engineers. Just look at all of the launch and stop sale issues with the Blazer and Lyriq. Software issues seem to go hand in hand with new vehicle launches at GM.
Wonder how long this one will last.